Super age should go up

[Oh_hunnihunni]

So are a lot of things that those paying taxes never benefit from.

Fact is though super is taxation based it isn't a pension fund. It is not the same as kiwisaver. The taxes I paid as an employee paid for my parents generation's retirement, not mine. The taxes the current generation pay support me in my old age.

Taxpayers do not get to decide where their taxes are spent, nor are any promises made in exchange for those taxes. It would be chaos if it were so...

The reality is many of the people who apply for and receive super have no need for it, while many superannuitants live hand to mouth close to the poverty line. How anyone can think that a fair system is beyond me.

[Zurdo]

If Muldoon hadn't canned Kirk's scheme pensioners wouldn't be a burden on the tax payers. But he did set the pension at 80% of the average wage - now, I could live on that.

[Magoo]

Hunni "The reality is many of the people who apply for and receive super have no need for it, while many superannuitants live hand to mouth close to the poverty line. How anyone can think that a fair system is beyond me."

it cannot be any fairer. everyone gets the same, and everyone gets it.
some people did without over their lifetime to have wriggle room in their dotage, do they not get to enjoy the benefits of that hardship (saving=doing without), as well as what theyve contributed to by way of superannuation as well?
means testing removes the reward of saving and investing, if that difference is going to be made up by the state then why bother, better to retire broke.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

If anyone wants to retire broke, they'd be welcome to it. No one chooses that option magoo. Life does that for us. As it does for wealth, which more often than not is also a matter of good luck rather than hard work...

[Magoo]

If anyone wants to retire broke, they'd be welcome to it. No one chooses that option magoo. Life does that for us. As it does for wealth, which more often than not is also a matter of good luck rather than hard work...

no of course they dont choose it, but many take no action at all to ensure it, and thats not the point i made. the point is 'fair[' regardless of circumstance.
no one chooses it, life happens, and we have super as a safety net for some, gin money for others.
nobody knows good luck more than i.
i have fallen backwards and landed in money. ive worked extremely hard in short bursts, and my timing is nothing short of spectacular, completely by accident. but ive made that luck too, no one set me on the path i took.
but ive seen and experienced hardship. i come from humble beginnings and during my travels i witnessed, and experienced what it is to do without. ive been flat broke.

i might get my super and go bankrupt the next day because im uninsured for health and a decent cancer wold drain us. i probably spent the money i should have put into health insurance on weed or something. theres a hundred things could happen that would financially cripple us, but i'll always have super if it all goes south, unless some sod begrudges me it and takes it away.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Lol, nobody? Oh I think plenty of folk can beat you on the luck score magoo.

Which is exactly why a UBI makes a lot more sense than basing a community sourced benefit on an age range. Give the same one to everyone, and means test specifically targeted top ups by need.

[Magoo]

i recognise my good fortune is mostly down to luck, not smarts.
its enough.

[Outsider]

If anyone wants to retire broke, they'd be welcome to it. No one chooses that option magoo. Life does that for us. As it does for wealth, which more often than not is also a matter of good luck rather than hard work...

 "The harder I work, the luckier I get." 

[Lilith7]

Its a difficult one - some who really don't need super just don't bother to apply but some do. There will be some of those who redirect it into charitable donations but likely most will keep it, when they really don't need it to survive, as some do. Which was I think, the original intention.

Perhaps somewhere there's someone who's expert in this who can come up with a fair solution.

[Magoo]

mum gives hers away

[nzoomed]

I dont want to still be working at 70, something needs to change. Kiwisaver was a good start I think but while people may live longer, they dont necessarily have quality of life, ive seen a few people working well past 65 and have various health problems, im surprised their employer was keeping them on.

Surely it would be possible to limit what is paid if you have enough assets in the bank or in property?
I see plenty of old people that are absolutley loaded, while others are in genuine need and funds could be better directed to them?

[Magoo]

I dont want to still be working at 70, something needs to change. Kiwisaver was a good start I think but while people may live longer, they dont necessarily have quality of life, ive seen a few people working well past 65 and have various health problems, im surprised their employer was keeping them on.

Surely it would be possible to limit what is paid if you have enough assets in the bank or in property?
I see plenty of old people that are absolutley loaded, while others are in genuine need and funds could be better directed to them?

i dont begrudge any one needing more help getting it. but call it what it is, which isnt superannuation.
its over and above super, its an as well as. as such it should be means tested. super should not.

[Lilith7]

Perhaps a UBI is the way to go - I've thought for a while now that we might do worse than having an income ceiling, & also an income floor, so that no one is so poor that they struggle to survive.
We might also do worse then those Nordic countries which have high taxes, which cover stuff like health welfare education etc. etc. & whose populations feature at or near the top of the 'happiest people' surveys.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

If anyone wants to retire broke, they'd be welcome to it. No one chooses that option magoo. Life does that for us. As it does for wealth, which more often than not is also a matter of good luck rather than hard work...

 "The harder I work, the luckier I get." 

Nope.

I know a fair few folk who have been hard workers all their lives, but missed out on the good luck fairy. And then there are those we can all name who have simply been born with that fairy sitting right on their shoulder letting them skate through life without lifting a finger. Poor sods.

I think a better mantra would be the one about the way hard work is its own reward. There is something immensely satisfying about setting an almost impossible goal, working our butt off to do it, and getting it done. Those who've never felt it though I guess will never understand.

So really, we are the lucky ones. 

[Zurdo]

The lucky ones are the Boomers in Auckland who bought a house in the '80's or '90's, and then just lived a boring life. They can sell up and retire somewhere else with a good sum to live off. I know plenty who are doing that. For other Boomers like me, I can sell up and go....nowhere. I never wanted to live in Auckland....and it has been my undoing. Not moaning, but seeing people rewarded for doing nothing, and other people (not me) working hard going nowhere.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Living a boring life isn't lucky. It's just a waste.

[Olive]

Not sure what Zurdo means by a boring life, but really don't think being boring or bored has any causal connection with wealth or luck. And how can anyone possibly judge whether or not a person is bored by their life.

[Zurdo]

Their life is boring to me...it may be exciting to them...but it looks boring to me. A few years ago I met an old mate I hadn't seen for about 20 years (he went to OZ) He said ''Fuck, your life is boring, why don't you get a girlfriend, have a bit of fun ?'' Other people are such idiots, lucky we aren't.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Some people are just boring by nature, poor dears. We are lucky not to be so!

[king1]

boring is a very subjective concept - my wife's eyes glaze over when I start talking about IT and tech stuff, as do mine when she starts talking clothes. What's boring for one can be riveting for another...